All survive as plane carrying US military crashes into river

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A military-chartered jet carrying 143
people landed hard, then bounced and swerved as the pilot
struggled to control it amid thunder and lightning, ultimately
skidding off the runway and coming to a crashing halt in a
river at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

It meant chaos and terror for passengers in the Boeing 737 as
the plane jolted back and forth and oxygen masks deployed, then
overhead bins opened, sending contents spilling out.

But authorities said all the people onboard emerged without
critical injuries Friday night, lining up on the wings as they
waited to be rescued. Only a 3-month-old baby was hospitalized,
and that was done out of an abundance of caution, officials
said.

"I think it is a miracle," said Capt. Michael Connor, the
base's commanding officer, hours after the plane landed. "We
could be talking about a different story this evening."

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of
investigators Saturday to the crash site in the St. Johns River
in north Florida, where the aircraft was still partially
submerged in shallow water and its nose cone was sliced off,
apparently from the impact. Two pet cats and a dog were still
on the plane as well, and their status wasn't immediately
clear.

Rescuers looked in the cargo area after the plane ended up in
the river but saw no crates and heard no animal noises. When
they returned later, they didn't see any pet carriers above
water, Connor said.

Members of the 16-person NTSB team recovered the plane's flight
data recorder Saturday.

Investigators will examine the aircraft, the environment and
human factors in trying to discover why the plane rolled into
the river. The pavement on the runway wasn't grooved, and
Landsberg said grooves can help the water flow off the pavement
more quickly. He said investigators will examine what role that
may have, with reported heavy rain during the landing.

The flight took off Friday from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, with 136 passengers and seven crew members. It was a
regular charter run by Miami Air International, which has many
military contracts, including weekly flights between Guantanamo
Bay and the Jacksonville air station as well as Andrews Air
Force Base in Maryland. The company didn't immediately respond
to messages from The Associated Press.

The aircraft had no prior history of accidents, said NTSB vice
chairman Bruce Landsberg.

Among those onboard was Cheryl Bormann, a defense attorney, who
described the chaotic landing.

The plane "literally hit the ground and then it bounced. It was
clear that the pilot did not have complete control of the plane
because it bounced some more, it swerved and tilted left and
right," she told CNN. "The pilot was trying to control it but
couldn't, and then all of a sudden it smashed into something."

Bormann said people weren't screaming because the flight staff
worked quickly to give direction. Everyone onboard helped one
another to put on their life vests and then evacuated to
safety.

A veteran death penalty attorney from Chicago, Bormann has been
defending Walid bin Attash, who is charged with helping to
train some of the 9/11 hijackers. The U.S. holds 40 men at the
detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It has been prosecuting
some of them by military commissions, including five charged
with planning and aiding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Their cases have been in the pretrial stage since May 2012 and
no trial has been scheduled.

Authorities say everyone onboard the flight was alive and
accounted for, but nearly two dozen people sought medical
attention.

The passengers were a mix of military personnel and families,
and a few civilians. While some were staying in the area,
others planned to fly on to other parts of the country, Connor
said.

It wasn't immediately clear what went wrong. Boeing said in a
tweet Friday night that it was investigating: "We are aware of
an incident in Jacksonville, Fla., and are gathering
information."

Connor said he didn't know what impact the weather had on the
flight. "I was at home when this happened and there were
thunderstorms and lightning," he said.

The plane had been expected to return to Cuba on Saturday to
carry other members of the military, lawyers and others to
Andrews after this week's military commission hearings of
people charged with war crimes.

It wasn't immediately clear how long it would take to remove
the plane from the river.

"We have challenges because bottom half of fuselage is
covered with water," Landsberg said.

Connor said the landing gear appeared to be resting on the
riverbed, making it unlikely for the aircraft to float away.
He said crews began working to contain any jet fuel leaks
almost immediately after securing the passengers' safety.

The smell of fuel and oil was pungent as AP journalists went
by boat for a closer look. The bottom of the plane was under
water, making it difficult to access the cargo hold.

"We're obviously very concerned about the environment and
we're doing everything we can to contain it," Connor said
about the fuel. "Once we were assured that personnel were
safe, our next priority effort was to ... contain any type of
fuel."

____

Schneider reported from Orlando. Other Associated Press
contributors include Ben Fox in Washington, David Fischer in
Miami and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco.

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